Egypt Military Aims to Cement Muscular Role in Government

Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, left, and Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, center, at a news conference last week.Credit
Ed Ou for The New York Times

CAIRO — The military council governing Egypt is moving to lay down ground rules for a new constitution that would protect and potentially expand its own authority indefinitely, possibly circumscribing the power of future elected officials.

The military announced Tuesday that it planned to adopt a “declaration of basic principles” to govern the drafting of a constitution, and liberals here initially welcomed the move as a concession to their demand for a Bill of Rights-style guarantee of civil liberties that would limit the potential repercussions of an Islamist victory at the polls.

But legal experts enlisted by the military to write the declaration say that it will spell out the armed forces’ role in the civilian government, potentially shielding the defense budget from public or parliamentary scrutiny and protecting the military’s vast economic interests. Proposals under consideration would give the military a broad mandate to intercede in Egyptian politics to protect national unity or the secular character of the state. A top general publicly suggested such a role, according to a report last month in the Egyptian newspaper Al- Masry Al- Youm. The military plans to adopt the document on its own, before any election, referendum or constitution sets up a civilian authority, said Mohamed Nour Farahat, a law professor working on the declaration. That would represent an about-face for a force that, after helping to oust President Hosni Mubarak five months ago, consistently pledged to turn over power to elected officials who would draft a constitution. Though the proposed declaration might protect liberals from an Islamist-dominated constitution, it could also limit democracy by shielding the military from full civilian control.

The military is long accustomed to virtual autonomy. Its budget has never been disclosed to Parliament, and its operations extend into commercial businesses like hotels, consumer electronics, bottled water and car manufacturing.

Some are already criticizing the military’s plans as a usurpation of the democratic process. Ibrahim Dawrish, an Egyptian legal scholar involved in devising a new Turkish constitution to reduce the political role of its armed forces, said the Egyptian military appeared to be emulating its Turkish counterpart. After a 1980 coup, the Turkish military assigned itself a broad role in politics as guarantor of the secular state, and in the process, contributed to years of political turbulence.

“The constitution can’t be monopolized by one institution,” he said. “It is Parliament that makes the constitution, not the other way around.”

Jurists involved in drafting the text say the Egyptian military told them to draw from several competing proposals that are circulating in Cairo. At least one assigns only a narrow, apolitical role to the military as guardian of national sovereignty. But others grant it sweeping authority and independence or a writ to intercede in civilian politics similar to the Turkish model.

Mr. Farahat said he was unsure of the wisdom of granting the armed forces a role in Egyptian politics, but he said he supported shielding the defense budget from public scrutiny as a guarantee of national security and military independence.

Photo

Protesters unhappy with the military council have returned to Tahrir Square with increasing frequency to voice their demands.Credit
Moises Saman for The New York Times

Others picked by the governing council to draft the declaration have argued publicly for a broad, Turkish-style role for the Egyptian armed forces in post-revolutionary politics. “The military in Egypt is unlike militaries in other countries where the military is isolated from the political life,” said Tahani el-Gebali, a judge involved in the drafting. “The military’s legacy gives it a special credibility, and hence it is only normal that the military will share some of the responsibility in protecting the constitutional legitimacy and the civil state.”

She said that she would prefer the governing council submit the declaration for up-or-down approval in a referendum, but that if it did not pass as expected, the document would derive its legitimacy from the authority of the governing military council.

The announcement of the declaration is a setback for the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group considered Egypt’s best-organized and most formidable political force. It was poised to win a major role in the new Parliament, and thus in the writing of the new constitution. The group has opposed liberal proposals to draft a constitution before parliamentary elections expected this fall or to postpone the elections long enough to let liberals catch up in organizing.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

Liberals — most notably Mohamed ElBaradei, the former United Nations diplomat who is now running for president of Egypt — have advocated a code of agreed-upon universal rights as a compromise in the increasingly bitter debate between Islamists calling for an early election and liberals demanding a constitution first. Mr. ElBaradei, whose own proposal includes a provision that narrowly defines the military’s role guarding national security, said the declaration “really should be put to a referendum so it would have some legitimacy.”

That is especially relevant now, because the military council has come under mounting criticism for its opaque and inaccessible decision-making, occasionally heavy-handed tactics against civilian protesters, continued trials of civilians in military courts and intimidation of journalists who criticize it. Many have grown especially impatient with the pace of legal action against Mr. Mubarak and other former officials.

Demonstrators have returned to Tahrir Square with increasing frequency to voice their demands, culminating in a weeklong sit-in rivaling the days of the revolution. The military-led government, in turn, has appeared to respond to public demands with repeated concessions — including replacing an interim prime minister with the handpicked choice of the Tahrir protest leaders, arresting Mr. Mubarak and his two sons and releasing jailed activists. Last week, the government offered concessions, removing hundreds of senior police officers accused of killing protesters during the uprising. It also announced “the declaration of basic principles.”

This time, however, the demonstrators refused to budge. On Saturday afternoon, Gen. Tarek Mahdy, a member of the governing council, attempted to speak in Tahrir Square and was chanted off a stage, witnesses said. Many say they have grown increasingly cynical about the military. “They do comply with our demands, but within limits that they put on it themselves,” said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, one of the organizers of the revolution.

The protests are increasingly taking aim at the military. On Thursday, a coalition of 24 political groups and five presidential contenders endorsed a call by the young leaders of the protests for the military to cede more power to a civilian government now rather than wait for elections.

The military leaders are sounding increasingly exasperated. In a news conference, Major General Mamdouh Shaheen, the council member who reportedly suggested a Turkish-style military role, recalled the military’s support for the revolution and its pivotal decision not to help uphold Mr. Mubarak.

The military would not give up “until there is an elected civil authority,” he said, but “the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces “does not want to stay in power.”

Heba Afify contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on July 17, 2011, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Egypt Military Moves to Cement A Muscular Role in Government. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe